In a recent survey, 88% of respondents said the holidays are the worst time of the year for stress, claiming it’s often challenging and lonely. With financial burdens from gift buying — to emotional burdens for those who have lost a loved one or are navigating complicated family dynamics — I see how it could be stressful for many.
In the workplace, the push to achieve big goals by the end of the year can pile on some mega pressure, as well. I definitely understand that one. Although that’s not a challenge within my current job, I have been there and done that.
I would bet all the respondents to the survey that said the holidays were the most stressful were not in the financial services industry.
I worked several years in banking and the most stressful time of the year was vacation.
I don’t know if all banks are similar, but the one I spent many years at made it so you never wanted to take time off. If you were on vacation, you were not allowed to go inside the branch where you worked. Before you left for vacation, you’d better make sure all your files were in order because while you were gone, you got audited. With a fine-toothed comb, y’all.
I only remember a couple people that were terminated when vacation wasn’t involved — but I know of many that got the ax after returning from their happy family vacation. The whole time you were supposed to be relaxing, you were instead worrying that you’d made some mistake… somewhere… that would be uncovered. It was miserable.
My wish for you is that your holiday season is filled with gratitude, connectivity, and joy!
Now you know: All the gold ever mined on Earth came from meteorites – not from the Earth’s core.
We’re at that time of year in Indiana where the flies outside want to be inside where it’s warm. Because it takes Dharma FOREVER to get out the door, I stand and watch at least 25 of the little suckers swarm in while waiting. Take that times 10,000 — the number of times she wants out per day — and I figure I’m spending around 8 hours a day with a flyswatter in hand.
At least there’s one I didn’t drink. 🤢
Fa la la la la… la la la la! 🎄🎅🏼
The storage room upstairs is wonderful! Getting Christmas decorations down from an attic (where they were stored in the Seymour house) was difficult. Getting them out of a room is doable all by myself… even if it is upstairs. I know because that’s what I did today (besides killing flies). Two inside trees are done.
The dining room is similar to last year…
But woah! What a change a year made for the office/family room!
No presents under the tree yet but I do have a few I can wrap. I’m just happy that both trees are up and decorated. I would do outside tomorrow but I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to rain. I need a recovery day anyway.
Now you know: The Disney movie – ‘A Bug’s Life’ – is actually based on the Aesop Fable ‘The ant and the grasshopper.’
Looking at photos from the trip to Perry’s Moms for a late Christmas, it’s clear I need to work on my stupid facial expressions for photos. Perry has it down to a science…
Happy Belated Christmas!
Perry doesn’t get to see his Momma nearly enough — it’s about an hour and a half drive to Rising Sun. She was sure happy to see her favorite son and didn’t seem to mind that Christmas was late this year. She likes him better than me — he got a bigger container of cookies.
Un mal pour un bien!
About 4 years ago, Perry’s Mom, Donna, had a major life change. After decades of marriage, her husband (that neither Perry nor I were crazy about), found someone he thought he liked better than her. She ended up in an apartment and now she’s like a social butterfly. In the short time we were there, her phone alerts went off at least 100 times with Facebook notifications and text messages. She has more friends now than she had accumulated in her lifetime before the move.
The French have an expression “un mal pour un bien” — which basically means a bad for a good. She’s not French (nor am I), but she sure did trade a bad for a good. 🙂
TIL (Today I Learned): The fastest heartbeat ever recorded was 600 beats per minute.
Yesterday was the day to un-Christmas the barndo. I took down the two inside trees AND carried the heavy turds upstairs for storage along with the boxes of lights and ornaments. This was AFTER I did my 30-minutes on the treadmill.
My “helpers” are not fans of the vacuum.
As I took the photo above, I noticed the snow hadn’t been cleaned from the deck. Add to that the sidewalk is in the shade so it was still snow and ice covered. I pulled out the snow shovel first and got the worst scraped off — and then I swept it all with a broom to get rid of as much moisture as possible so it wouldn’t refreeze. Next, I saw the forecast calling for rain. 🙄
Yesterday was a gorgeous day in the mid-high 50’s and the snow should disappear today.
Lastly, I took down the outside decor and got it stored upstairs. The whole un-Christmasing thing is sort of sad even though it’s nice to be rid of the holiday clutter.
I already miss the disco tree. 😢
TIL (Today I Learned): The first mac & cheese recipe dates to the year 1390, when it appeared in the cookbook “The Forme of Cury”. It used fresh, hand-cut pasta sandwiched between a mixture of melted butter and grated cheese.
My photography skills were about as low as they’ve ever been during this year’s Christmas gathering. The only image worth even sharing is this one… and it’s marginal. 🙂
But the night AFTER Christmas there are a few creatures stirring. This one, for example:
Colette got a record player and I learned that vinyl records are the hot thing again. It was like a blast from the past! I remember as a kid we had more than one — a cabinet type in the living room and a smaller one in the bedroom. As I got a little older, the one in the pool room played a whole lot of Waylon, Willie, Hank Jr., and Jessie Colter.
Coco loves Michael Jackson so we purchased a couple long-play vinyls (records in old person speak), and we threw in a Pink Floyd just because. But if I hear the song “Money” (official video on youtube) one more time within the next 10 years it will be one time too many. This new suitcase record player allows the speed to be changed. For the record, (pun intended) I can sing “Money” on every speed… no matter how fast or slow it’s played. 😏
Money Get back I’m alright, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack.
Here’s hoping you had a fabulous Christmas filled with family and just a little quiet time to recover. 🙂 And money.
TIL (Today I Learned): Per NPR, the Bald Eagle population has recovered. They are now fairly common birds to be seen in residential areas.
